10 Things They Need To Teach In Highschool

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10 Things They Need To Teach In Highschool

What are kids learning these days? Is it the same stuff we were learning back in highschool? Does that make much sense any more?

Certainly, the basics should always be taught, and there’ll be some things that barely change, but the pace at which things happen in today’s world technologically, politically and socially show us that highschool curriculums need to evolve as well.

Chris Brogan ponders this very question (interestingly enough through Twitter) and here’s my answer. This is important for all of us because we’re the ones changing the face of the planet. And we should do a better job equipping those that come after us in handling that change and benefiting from it.

Entrepreneurship. Not every student will become an entrepreneur, but teaching entrepreneurship would be a great way to instill passion, creativity, critical thinking and interest in a lot of students. Plenty of students are disengaged in school because they’re dreaming of something bigger and better; teaching entrepreneurship can help challenge those interests.
Journalism. It’s a safe bet that every kid out there will blog, or publish their ideas, news, insights, feedback, etc. in some form or other online. With that in mind, highschools should teach formal journalism to help students improve their structured writing. Journalism also covers areas of interviewing, communication, critical thinking, judgment, balanced reporting, ethics and more.
Economics. I had to wait until university to take economics courses, unless you count basic accounting. Basic accounting is so boring it will put anyone off from caring about economics. Students should understand the fundamentals of macro and micro economics. Tie it easily with entrepreneurship: angel investing, venture capital, etc. Tie it easily with today’s realities: the stock market, dot com crash, and so on. This shouldn’t start with accounting, it should start with a greater understanding of how money is made and managed.
Personal Finances & Investing. Having a world view of how money works is great, but at the end of the day it comes down to what’s in your pocket and what you do with it. Kids have a hard time looking long term into the future, but they need a better handle on managing their own money and understanding the basics of investing. Show kids how they can put a couple bucks per month into an RRSP at an early age and it’ll be worth millions when they retire and you’ll spark some interest.
Ethics. This was suggested by Whitney Hoffman of LD Podcast and it’s a great idea. Some highschool classes will tackle issues around ethics, but I think kids would be very interested in getting to the meat of this wide ranging subject. Let them grapple with complex issues, debate, exchange ideas and push themselves to think beyond their cozy boxes. And ethics ties so easily with a host of other subjects: entrepreneurship, journalism, economics, etc.
Technology & Social Media. Most highschool students will be familiar with MySpace, Facebook, blogging and so on, but why not get a class going on these very subjects and how they’re changing the world we live in? Maybe there aren’t any highschool teachers capable of handling this, which would be a shame. What many of us live and breathe daily is being picked up by younger generations haphazardly, and there’s some fun and advantage to that, but it should be put in context of greater world issues – security, privacy, technological advancement, globalization, entertainment…
Personal Brand Development. Highschool students are going through an incredible time of self-discovery and understanding of how they want to fit into the world around them. Understanding the concepts of personal branding (and ancillary to that marketing, sales, networking, communication) would be an interesting way to help students understand the importance of how they get their message across, how they’re perceived, and what they can do to further develop themselves as individuals. There are many life lessons to be learned in the concepts of personal branding.
Psychology. I don’t think we give highschool students enough credit. And that’s one of our biggest mistakes. Teaching elements of psychology – developmental (again, suggested by Whitney!), perceptual, cultural – would be an amazing eye opener for a lot of kids. Highschools often lament the lack of physical education they’re providing (resulting in fat, unhealthy kids) but we seem to completely ignore healthy minds.
Politics & Conflict Resolution. There are some classes related to politics and world issues in highschool, but they’re lacking. Politics isn’t about the structure of a political system (How many seats are there in the Senate? Name every President or Prime Minister and the years they were in power.) Politics (love it or hate it) is a fundamental force in the world. Combined with teaching conflict resolution and mediation, we can raise kids with a bigger awareness of the world’s complexity, but with an eye to helping and fixing problems. Too many people (let alone highschool students) have an “It’s not my problem, it’s someone else’s problem” attitude. Um…
Religion & Faith. Controversial for sure, but I’m not suggesting we teach kids one specific religion or faith. Teach all of them. Give kids an understanding of how other religions and faiths work, how they originated, how they differ. A few lightbulbs will go off in those classes and kids will realize that most faiths and religions are almost identical. You mean, we’re all kinda, like, the same?

I’d also love to see more pure technology training in highschool – programming classes and the such that don’t involve COBOL or other ancient languages. Isn’t there a way we could teach kids how to code in Ruby, or design websites and blogs using CSS?

There are plenty of big problems with our educational systems – often under-funded, under-appreciated, railed on, etc. But there’s also a clear lack of innovation in many places and a difficulty with locked-in, old school curriculums that don’t (or can’t?) adapt to the changing world fast enough.

What do you think should be taught in highschool?

If you enjoyed this post, please share it!

April 18, 2007 Posted in Personal Development by Ben Yoskovitz

http://www.ldpodcast.com whitney

Thanks for the mentions!

I think we also fail to teach kids “how” to learn- we tell them they need to study, to “work harder”, but never really tell them how to use their brain most efficiently. For example, we don’t teach kids about how short term and long term memory work, and how to best use that hardware we carry around in our heads. And this is a travesty, because it leads to so much wasted time- for everyone.
http://www.ldpodcast.com whitney

Thanks for the mentions!

I think we also fail to teach kids “how” to learn- we tell them they need to study, to “work harder”, but never really tell them how to use their brain most efficiently. For example, we don’t teach kids about how short term and long term memory work, and how to best use that hardware we carry around in our heads. And this is a travesty, because it leads to so much wasted time- for everyone.
http://fibromyalgiaexperiment.com/ Sarakastic

I’d be happy if so many music programs weren’t being cut, unfortunately it seems like schools are losing a lot of things instead of adding more.
http://fibromyalgiaexperiment.com/ Sarakastic

I’d be happy if so many music programs weren’t being cut, unfortunately it seems like schools are losing a lot of things instead of adding more.
http://nurtur.co.uk/naked Naked Jonny

Great post mate. I dislike the current education system because it basically teaches you how to pass exams and to regurgitate information but does very little to inspire, challenge and make young minds think.
http://nurtur.co.uk/naked Naked Jonny

Great post mate. I dislike the current education system because it basically teaches you how to pass exams and to regurgitate information but does very little to inspire, challenge and make young minds think.
http://www.fsbrainstorm.com Francis

I’ll second what whitney said — throughout school, I thought studying consisted of taking dictation in class and re-reading those notes over and over again.

And as Sarakastic indicated, with all these good programs being cut, just what are we actually spending our school money on these days? I’m curious to know… and perhaps see a nice pie chart .
http://www.fsbrainstorm.com Francis

I’ll second what whitney said — throughout school, I thought studying consisted of taking dictation in class and re-reading those notes over and over again.

And as Sarakastic indicated, with all these good programs being cut, just what are we actually spending our school money on these days? I’m curious to know… and perhaps see a nice pie chart .
http://www.thefreestyleentrepreneur.com Jeff Hunsaker

I love this topic…it’s one I’ve given a lot of thought to since we added kids to our family.

Ben, these are excellent thoughts and I think your list is spot on. However, I would change two things: rename the post to “10 Things Parents Need to Teach Their Children” and urge/advocate a re-focusing of public/mainstream education on the basics: reading, writing, arithmetic, and the sciences.

At least in the U.S., the education system is modeled to churn out workers to plug into the corporate enterprise (“knowledge workers”). It has been this way for decades…probably since WWII when the economy shifted from an agrarian to an industrial society.

In the information age, this education system is ineffective. Our children need to learn how to think critically and creatively, how to innovate, and how to survive without a corporate entity as a 3rd (or 2nd) parent/crutch (i.e. entrepreneurialism).

However, public schools (at least in the U.S.) by their very charter, cater to the masses. They can’t specialize due to the sheer number of students. They cannot provide the level of attention our children need in these very abstract areas of learning.

As a result, I believe schools should stop trying to field everything and focus on doing 3-4 things with greatness: reading, writing, arithmetic, and the sciences.

Outside of the classroom, I feel it’s the parent’s responsibility to teach their children life’s lessons: cooperation, teamwork, morals, faith, critical/creative thinking, emotional intelligence, giving, technology, personal finance, the arts, physical fitness and nutrition, etc.

Would you, as a parent, leave this important job to an underpaid and under-appreciated instructor whose attention is torn across 30+ other children? I wouldn’t.
http://www.thefreestyleentrepreneur.com Jeff Hunsaker

I love this topic…it’s one I’ve given a lot of thought to since we added kids to our family.

Ben, these are excellent thoughts and I think your list is spot on. However, I would change two things: rename the post to “10 Things Parents Need to Teach Their Children” and urge/advocate a re-focusing of public/mainstream education on the basics: reading, writing, arithmetic, and the sciences.

At least in the U.S., the education system is modeled to churn out workers to plug into the corporate enterprise (“knowledge workers”). It has been this way for decades…probably since WWII when the economy shifted from an agrarian to an industrial society.

In the information age, this education system is ineffective. Our children need to learn how to think critically and creatively, how to innovate, and how to survive without a corporate entity as a 3rd (or 2nd) parent/crutch (i.e. entrepreneurialism).

However, public schools (at least in the U.S.) by their very charter, cater to the masses. They can’t specialize due to the sheer number of students. They cannot provide the level of attention our children need in these very abstract areas of learning.

As a result, I believe schools should stop trying to field everything and focus on doing 3-4 things with greatness: reading, writing, arithmetic, and the sciences.

Outside of the classroom, I feel it’s the parent’s responsibility to teach their children life’s lessons: cooperation, teamwork, morals, faith, critical/creative thinking, emotional intelligence, giving, technology, personal finance, the arts, physical fitness and nutrition, etc.

Would you, as a parent, leave this important job to an underpaid and under-appreciated instructor whose attention is torn across 30+ other children? I wouldn’t.
Pingback: Highschool Education by Littlemummy.Com
http://www.how-to-tie-a-tie-video.com/four-in-hand-tie-knot.html Tie a Four-In-Hand

I’d add a couple more, plus one. Reading and math. And the other biggie is how to decide how to do what you want to do. How many students leave high school and have never really spent serious time planning thier future.
http://www.how-to-tie-a-tie-video.com/four-in-hand-tie-knot.html Tie a Four-In-Hand

I’d add a couple more, plus one. Reading and math. And the other biggie is how to decide how to do what you want to do. How many students leave high school and have never really spent serious time planning thier future.
http://www.free-from.com/blog/ Lucy

Yes – all the above! And some purely practical skills, like real cooking from scratch (both healthier than ready-meals or take-aways, and cheaper) and touch-typing (to go with all those blogging skills!).

This type of life-skill should be taught to everyone not just the non-academic children … and not every parent will have the skills themselves to teach their child, so at least some of these should be taught in school.
http://www.free-from.com/blog/ Lucy

Yes – all the above! And some purely practical skills, like real cooking from scratch (both healthier than ready-meals or take-aways, and cheaper) and touch-typing (to go with all those blogging skills!).

This type of life-skill should be taught to everyone not just the non-academic children … and not every parent will have the skills themselves to teach their child, so at least some of these should be taught in school.
http://www.matnewton.com Mat

I visited the how to tie a tie website listed just above this comment, and within seconds I had a warning that the site was trying to send me a trojan…
http://www.matnewton.com Mat

I visited the how to tie a tie website listed just above this comment, and within seconds I had a warning that the site was trying to send me a trojan…
http://sean-dinner.com/blog Sean

They don’t teach them because so many people will complain about this and that and whine until they get there way. Also, there are too many old people running the show, meaning they want just math and science. They don’t realize that the world is changing and so is the knowledge that students should be gaining.
http://sean-dinner.com/blog Sean

They don’t teach them because so many people will complain about this and that and whine until they get there way. Also, there are too many old people running the show, meaning they want just math and science. They don’t realize that the world is changing and so is the knowledge that students should be gaining.
http://www.steve-olson.com Steve Olson

Ben,
This is a kick ass post!

Education is close to my heart and our education system is a joke. We need entrepreneurial schools run by entrepreneurs! Not schools run by government bureaucrats and staffed by union members.

People, businesses, and schools today need to be agile. They need to quickly change – adapting to new environments and new ideas and technology. Our current education system will never do that, because the scale of it forces change to be slow and lethargic.

Slow lethargic government is fine with me, but slow letharic education is a disaster. That is why we need to seperate government and education.

Thanks for giving me something to rant about….
http://www.steve-olson.com Steve Olson

Ben,
This is a kick ass post!

Education is close to my heart and our education system is a joke. We need entrepreneurial schools run by entrepreneurs! Not schools run by government bureaucrats and staffed by union members.

People, businesses, and schools today need to be agile. They need to quickly change – adapting to new environments and new ideas and technology. Our current education system will never do that, because the scale of it forces change to be slow and lethargic.

Slow lethargic government is fine with me, but slow letharic education is a disaster. That is why we need to seperate government and education.

Thanks for giving me something to rant about….
http://www.best-of-time-management.com/personal-development.htm Pamela

I think that personal finance and investing shouldn’t only be taught to high school students but also elementary students. It’s better to start early when it comes to money. Teaching kids how to manage money will give them the idea how to spend their allowance wisely.
http://www.best-of-time-management.com/personal-development.htm Pamela

I think that personal finance and investing shouldn’t only be taught to high school students but also elementary students. It’s better to start early when it comes to money. Teaching kids how to manage money will give them the idea how to spend their allowance wisely.
http://www.instigatorblog.com Ben Yoskovitz

Steve – rant away, I’m always happy to help! *grin*

Thank you for everyone’s comments so far, I think the discussion has proven very interesting.
http://www.instigatorblog.com Ben Yoskovitz

Steve – rant away, I’m always happy to help! *grin*

Thank you for everyone’s comments so far, I think the discussion has proven very interesting.
http://bestofbrett.com Brett Evans

My dad, unfortunately, teaches at a high school. The school has somewhat changed into a inter-city school. He teaches biology and deals with a huge fail rate every year. The problem is all of these ideas are great but that is for people who desire to take those classes. Most of the kids don’t. Some kids would take it but the school doesn’t have funding to have just one class a day on a topic. Personally I would have loved to take classes like this.

….but there they are happy if a kid even graduates.
http://bestofbrett.com Brett Evans

My dad, unfortunately, teaches at a high school. The school has somewhat changed into a inter-city school. He teaches biology and deals with a huge fail rate every year. The problem is all of these ideas are great but that is for people who desire to take those classes. Most of the kids don’t. Some kids would take it but the school doesn’t have funding to have just one class a day on a topic. Personally I would have loved to take classes like this.

….but there they are happy if a kid even graduates.
http://www.techtraction.com Bret

Great post. I’d add one more item and one subtraction.

Basic respect — They need to constantly hammer into the kids to treat one another with respect. Whether they like or dislike someone, that person is still a human with feelings. Be respectful.

End cut-n-paste projects — I know it’s not on your list but I need to get this one off my chest. Once kids enter High School, they shouldn’t be doing anymore projects that involve what I call “cut-n-paste.” I’m not talking about computers I’m talking about projects where they put junk on poster board etc. They’ll never do that stuff in college or in the business world. I’ve spent hundreds of dollars for these ridiculous “craft” projects only to watch them get thrown in the trash when it’s all done.

Okay, rant all done.
http://www.techtraction.com Bret

Great post. I’d add one more item and one subtraction.

Basic respect — They need to constantly hammer into the kids to treat one another with respect. Whether they like or dislike someone, that person is still a human with feelings. Be respectful.

End cut-n-paste projects — I know it’s not on your list but I need to get this one off my chest. Once kids enter High School, they shouldn’t be doing anymore projects that involve what I call “cut-n-paste.” I’m not talking about computers I’m talking about projects where they put junk on poster board etc. They’ll never do that stuff in college or in the business world. I’ve spent hundreds of dollars for these ridiculous “craft” projects only to watch them get thrown in the trash when it’s all done.

Okay, rant all done.
Daniel

Ben, nice article. I am also very skecptical about the quality of the education we have nowadays.

I dugg it, check it out:
http://digg.com/business_finance/10_Things_They_Need_to_Teach_in_Highschool
Daniel

Ben, nice article. I am also very skecptical about the quality of the education we have nowadays.

I dugg it, check it out:
http://digg.com/business_finance/10_Things_They_Need_to_Teach_in_Highschool
http://www.instigatorblog.com Ben Yoskovitz

Bret – thanks for the comment. That’s hardly a rant, I agree with you.

At least get the kids doing it with PowerPoint or something else where they’re learning a technology skill…we all love PowerPoint presentations after all!
http://www.instigatorblog.com Ben Yoskovitz

Bret – thanks for the comment. That’s hardly a rant, I agree with you.

At least get the kids doing it with PowerPoint or something else where they’re learning a technology skill…we all love PowerPoint presentations after all!
http://www.whenleastexpected.com Manchild

Hello Ben,

I agree with you. Our children do need exposure to a diversity of educational resources, business opportunities, and life experiences to prepare them for the emerging global economy.

Excellent post.
http://www.whenleastexpected.com Manchild

Hello Ben,

I agree with you. Our children do need exposure to a diversity of educational resources, business opportunities, and life experiences to prepare them for the emerging global economy.

Excellent post.
http://daveolson.ca Dave

Jeff’s comment resonates with me. Leaving all of the great stuff on this list to a teacher is certainly inadequate.

One thing I would add that I don’t think I see in your list is “relationships”. Certainly high school age kids could benefit from something more than just sex ed.
http://daveolson.ca Dave

Jeff’s comment resonates with me. Leaving all of the great stuff on this list to a teacher is certainly inadequate.

One thing I would add that I don’t think I see in your list is “relationships”. Certainly high school age kids could benefit from something more than just sex ed.
http://www.iqi-sm.com/blog/ CA

I love Jeff’s response. Whatever I learnt I learnt it at home. Initial lessons on value, ethics morality all begin at home.

Ben, what about “thinking”? Don’t you think that students know how to “think”? It is funny you post this article on the same day I wrote about thinking and if they should teach this in school.
http://www.iqi-sm.com/blog/ CA

I love Jeff’s response. Whatever I learnt I learnt it at home. Initial lessons on value, ethics morality all begin at home.

Ben, what about “thinking”? Don’t you think that students know how to “think”? It is funny you post this article on the same day I wrote about thinking and if they should teach this in school.
http://www.MyTutoringTips.com Geri

I think some of those topics are already being discussed with high school students in some schools like religion and faith. I am sure that catholic school teach their students about faith and religion. Anyway, good suggestion.
http://www.MyTutoringTips.com Geri

I think some of those topics are already being discussed with high school students in some schools like religion and faith. I am sure that catholic school teach their students about faith and religion. Anyway, good suggestion.
http://www.steliefti.com Steli Efti

Hey Ben,

thankx for such a great post. I had lots of fun to pick up your question and post about it myself.

Much power to you!
Steli Efti
http://www.steliefti.com Steli Efti

Hey Ben,

thankx for such a great post. I had lots of fun to pick up your question and post about it myself.

Much power to you!
Steli Efti
http://www.reichcomm.typepad.com David Reich

This is an excellent list, Ben.

One I’d like to see added would be arts education. That could include the fine arts or music — skills and/or appreciation.
http://www.reichcomm.typepad.com David Reich

This is an excellent list, Ben.

One I’d like to see added would be arts education. That could include the fine arts or music — skills and/or appreciation.
http://www.illuminea.com/blog Miriam

I know this may sound a bit old-fashioned or super-conservative, but how about learning about marriage? People don’t know what is really important for a lasting and fulfilling marriage, and many people aim for Hollywood movie values (not a great example: look at their marriage track record).

In addition to careers etc., many people do aspire to eventually get married, have kids, and then hopefully stay married. It’s an important part of life, but people really don’t seem to know how to do it anymore. Why not try to teach high school kids a bit about it before they head off to real life?
http://www.illuminea.com/blog Miriam

I know this may sound a bit old-fashioned or super-conservative, but how about learning about marriage? People don’t know what is really important for a lasting and fulfilling marriage, and many people aim for Hollywood movie values (not a great example: look at their marriage track record).

In addition to careers etc., many people do aspire to eventually get married, have kids, and then hopefully stay married. It’s an important part of life, but people really don’t seem to know how to do it anymore. Why not try to teach high school kids a bit about it before they head off to real life?
http://www.MyStudentLoanTips.com Ed

I agree. I am sure that it would be hard to incorporate every single one in the high school curriculum, but teaching the basics would be a good start.
http://www.MyStudentLoanTips.com Ed

I agree. I am sure that it would be hard to incorporate every single one in the high school curriculum, but teaching the basics would be a good start.
http://www.davidairey.com/blog David Airey :: Creative Design

I’ve ‘dugg’ this post too.

I hope this hasn’t already been mentioned, but negtiating a raise and writing letters of resignation should also be touched upon in school.

Two valuable lessons.

About Ben Yoskovitz

I recently joined GoInstant as VP Product. GoInstant changes how we use the web, making it shareable like never before.

I'm also a Founding Partner at Year One Labs, an early stage accelerator in Montreal. Previously I founded Standout Jobs (and sold it). I'm a hands-on startup guy, helping companies grow successfully from the idea forward. You can reach me at byosko at gmail dot com.

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